KARACHI: Measures to avoid typhoid, diabetes suggested
KARACHI, Aug 31: Doctors warning steady surge in the incidence of diabetes, hypertension and typhoid among local people reminded that availability of comparatively safer drugs could not but be precise substitute for prevention.
Senior medical professionals including Prof Mashoor Alam of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Prof Syed Inkisar Ali of Dow University of Health Sciences, Prof Zaman Sheikh of Lyari General Hospital, and Dr Maqbool Jaffery discussing the diseases minced no words that drug therapy was not a cost-effective option for a large majority of local population.
Risks for associated morbidity and in certain instances even mortality was tremendous once the disease was not controlled, they warned reminding that prevention of these ailments were but possible through strong will on part of individuals, which was also consequent to proper education.
Highlighting the importance of timely diagnosis and due care on part of doctors to ensure that patients strictly comply with prescribed drug therapy, they stressed that doctors, mainly the family physicians, should restore the confidence of patients and offer them proper guidance.
Discussing enteric fever, Dr Inkisar Ali of Civil Hospital said that typhoid had emerged as the commonest type of it in South East Asian countries including Pakistan, where typhoid induced deaths rate came to around 6.5 per cent. This was despite the fact that consumption of clean water, improved sanitation, due care for personal hygiene, hand washing can help avoid the diseases, he said.
He also referred to the issue of multi-drug resistance among local children with particular reference to the first line of drugs.
Prof Mashoor Alam, a senior endocrinologist and JPMC’s director, said that Pakistan with 11 per cent incidence rate of diabetes was in little position to tackle the related complications including blindness, renal failure, cardiovascular diseases, amputation and so forth.
In his well-researched presentation, he also mentioned that much younger population was increasingly witnessed to be inflicted with the disease and major contributory factor had been well established to be increasing sedentary life style among Pakistanis in general.
“Diabetes can be prevented,” he said while referring to available studies that body weight reduction by seven per cent and 45 minutes walk or physical exercise could largely help in avoiding the disease.
He also emphasized early detection of diabetes and proper control of it to avoid related complications.
Supplementing the previous speaker, Dr Zaman Sheikh said that family physicians while assessing the likely diabetics as well as confirmed patients must take stock of family history, duration of diabetes, drug history and necessary lab investigations.
He particularly urged the family physicians to dispel rampant misconcepts regarding insulin and educate patients appropriate way to administer insulin.
Former director-general of Sindh Health Department, Dr Fateh Mohammad, talking about service structure in specialists cadre highlighted the discrepancies in context of requirement and sanctioned posts in BPS-18 to BPS-20 in health department.
“Against a requirement of 86 doctors in BPS-20 there are nine sanctioned posts,” he said mentioning that 80 sanctioned posts of BPS-19 existed against need of 263 specialists in the health department facilities.
On the contrary, the senior professional said there were 764 doctors working in BPS-18 although there were 794 sanctioned posts in the grade. — APP
